Post-toast

So, I finished the book I was reading the last time I was here. It was an absolutely lovely book& I would recommend it to anyone looking for a great summer read. I spent the last few sunny afternoons sitting on the deck, patting my puppy& reading! It was pretty much my ideal way to spend the days. I plan on more of the same for the rest of summer ...mixed in with some summer BBQs& drives in my favorite thing- the dune buggy.

Isn't that a great snapshot from last summer? A tourist took it for us& I have to admit that it's pretty much a prized memory. This summer is, fingers crossed, going to be more of the same from last year. It's starting off right ..with mostly sunshine& lots of heat! Along with all my great memories from last summer, I have some big goals to go with it-

1. Train for a half-marathon- seriously. I signed up for Disney& I have a 10k for October that the three girls who are running are doing together so we start in the same time corral in Disney! I am so looking forward to that trip. Does anyone out there have any great suggestions for stuff to do in/ around Disney? Or anyone reading this blog actually run the Disney half? Better yet, write up a blog post about it?

2. Win more ribbons- I wrote a post about the start of my agility love. I am so incredibly lucky to have Briar in my life. He's the best agility partner I could have ever asked for& considering I've only been training for 9 months, I find it hard to believe how far we've come! We have 3 Qs in 2 competitions& I look forward to filling my walls with big ribbons& first places ;)

Okay, it's super hot out& I have a hilarious panting red dog with her nose right up to the fan. I think I'll spend my sunny day off going for a walk, visiting the pet store& later, painting my new agility jump. At some point, I'll make a point to get a photo of my yard setup. With all the gear we have, Penn had better turn into an agility superstar ..and sooner, rather than later! For now, I'll be okay with just having lots of cuddle time& laughing at her silly puppy antics!

Blogging hiatus? Over.

So, I have been super slack when it comes to posting on this little blog. I ended up getting sidetracked& taken away from this space that I love so much! In an honest effort, here's my first (of many) summer post. What inspired this posting? One of my good friends (if you remember, she owns La Quaintrelle) recently started blogging. Her posts are always so happy& well-written ..which will never happen over here so instead I'm aiming for some doggy humour& a little dose of a pretty photo every once in awhile!

My little red dog has managed to survive life with Garret& I as her parents and is 11 months old! It's hard to believe it's been 9 months since we decided to take on the task of raising& competing a Vizsla. I'd say we've done a fine job raising her. Figuring out if she'll be everything I want in my competition dog? We'll have to wait until she's 18 months old for that. In the meantime, she's doing an absolutely stellar job in motivating me to train for that looming half-marathon in January& she gives a pretty great snuggle post-run, too!

Post-5k ..she couldn't run because Cape Breton isn't dog friendly but how great is it for that

 sweet face to be waiting at the finish line?! Talk about a reason to sprint the end ;)

While waiting for my pretty red girl to grow up, I've been incredibly lucky to have the chance to run a very talented (and fast) brown Border Collie. Due to my lack of regular updates, I'm not entirely sure if I've ever properly introduced Briar to my blog people! He's absolutely just as handsome as can be& I adore him. Two weeks ago, we headed off to New Brunswick for a competition. I trained hard all winter to be able to do well this summer& it finally, finally paid off!

We had four runs in two days and we got a Qualifying score (which means a lot in terms of agility ..so feel free to congratulate me) and first place in 3 of our 4 runs. It was amazing. I am still riding that high while also being busy training for our next competition on Canada Day weekend. We'll have 8 runs that weekend& I need to keep up this winning streak ;)

Even Briar looks pleased with himself in this photo! You'd never know about 160mm of rain fell& we were FROZEN!!

Neither rain nor cold could stop us from our sheer happiness over all our hard work!

So, are we all caught up on the puppy business? Perfect! On that note, I know what I should do probably is go for a run. Is that what I'm going to do? Not a chance. I'm planning on spending this rainy, cold Cape Breton afternoon curled up on my couch& getting my daily quota of Penny snuggles! She's currently giving me the stink eye to get over there& make good on that threat!

Oh, before I go. One last thing for anyone out there reading this.. I need some good running music for those long run days that Penny can't make it. Anyone have some good, pump up music for my iPod? Let me know in the comments!